eBook downloads, eBook resources & eBook authors
Leaders are readers! Elementary school principal Mandy Ellis offers practical, immediately actionable, fun ideas and strategies that will deeply embed books, reading, and literacy into your school culture. You'll learn how to make reading a joy for every member of your school community.
Clear, on-the-ground guidance for Reading Apprenticeship implementation Leading for Literacy provides tools and real-life examples to expand the benefits of a literacy approach that sparks students' engaged reading and thinking across disciplines, from middle school through community college. A companion to the landmark Reading for Understanding, this book guides teachers, leaders, and administrators through the nuts, bolts, benefits, and stumbling blocks of creating Reading Apprenticeship communities that extend a culture of literacy beyond individual classrooms. This book explains how to generate authentic buy-in from teachers and administrators, use the Reading Apprenticeship Framework to turn reform overload into reform coherence, and create literacy teams, professional learning communities, and Reading Apprenticeship communities of practice that sustain an institutional focus on a student-centered, strengths-based culture of literacy. Key insights from Reading Apprenticeship practitioners across the country address how to get started, build momentum, assess progress, and build partnerships and networks across schools, districts, campuses, and regions. Persistently low levels of adolescent literacy continue to short-change students, contribute to discredited high school diplomas, and cause millions of students to drop out of high school and community college. Forty percent or more of community college students require remedial reading courses as college freshman. The researchers at WestEd's Strategic Literacy Initiative developed the Reading Apprenticeship Framework to provide educators with a proven path to improving literacy for all students, and this book provides clear guidance on bringing the framework to life. How to integrate Reading Apprenticeship with existing reform efforts How to use formative assessment to promote teacher and student growth How to coach and empower teachers How to cultivate literacy leadership How to provide long-term support for a strong content-literacy program Nationwide classroom testing has shown Reading Apprenticeship to promote not only literacy and content knowledge, but also motivation and positive academic identity—leading to better student outcomes that reach beyond the classroom walls. Leading for Literacy lays out compelling ways to spread the benefits of Reading Apprenticeship, with practical guidance and real-world insight.
Directly linked with overall student achievement, graduation rates, and success in higher education, literacy is essential for reaching academic goals in a school or county. Adolescent literacy has become the focus of many school improvement efforts to meet the needs of secondary and high school students. Without the requisite expertise in literacy, administrators and other school leaders charged with literacy improvement initiatives need a systemic and sustained approach for improving student literacy and learning. Taking the Lead on Adolescent Literacy presents a concrete, user-friendly, and practical guide to developing, implementing, and monitoring a schoolwide or county-wide literacy action plan. Readers will find rubrics, tools, and processes developed and field-tested by the authors over more than 10 years of close work with schools across the country.
The roles of school leaders are ever-expanding. Along with the increase comes heightened expectations to create and sustain school environments that embrace the cultures of all students and families. To accomplish this optimally inclusive learning culture and climate, school leaders must possess the acumen to view all aspects of their responsibilities through a culturally responsive lens, hence, culturally responsive leadership. Culturally Responsive Leadership for Social Justice and Academic Equity for All offers a multi-faceted approach to culturally responsive leadership as it connects the concept to the various responsibilities of school leaders. The book also challenges school leaders to see the connective and comprehensive nature of culturally responsive leadership in their daily duties and responsibilities, introduces the concept of culturally responsive leadership and its benefits for all students, and prompts and initiates an educational leadership mindset that seeks to explore the impact of culturally responsive leadership further. Covering key topics such as equity, school culture, and professional development, this premier reference source is ideal for administrators, policymakers, researchers, scholars, academicians, practitioners, instructors, students, preservice teachers, and teacher educators.
Accompanying CD-ROM "includes tables describing various instructional modes, an interactive database to aid in selecting among them, handouts and more"--p. [4] of cover.
Aim high to improve leading, teaching, and learning Skillful leadership is critical as schools return to a new normalcy. Improving students’ learning and addressing the challenges many learners experienced due to recent learning interruptions are top priorities for all school leaders. Aiming High offers leaders a framework for creating an environment where both effective instruction and a focus on social and emotional needs benefits all students and teachers. Evan Robb maps a route to building a positive, trusting culture of collaboration, creativity, and empowerment. Features include: An outline of the leadership elements required to build a learner-focused culture Tools for fostering productive collaboration, creating shared teacher leadership, and building trusting relationships Insightful tips for addressing complexities that come with new learning formats Provocative questions that guide readers toward redefining instructional leadership Your mission as leader is clear: aim high, work intentionally and collaboratively with teachers, and create a refreshed school culture centered on learning and growth for all.
Writing is a critical skill for academic and professional success, yet it is often neglected in schools. According to achievement data, only a quarter of students in the United States are proficient writers, indicating a significant need for improvement in writing instruction. One contributing factor to this problem is the lack of school and district leadership in writing instruction. School improvement efforts are often concentrated on reading and math, leaving writing instruction overlooked. Additionally, issues related to writer identities, self-efficacy in writing, and educator training can also impact the effectiveness of instructional leadership in this critical subject. Instructional Leadership Efforts and Evidence-Based Practices to Improve Writing Instruction, edited by Jennifer VanSlander of Columbus State University, provides within this peer-reviewed book an exploration of evidence-based practices aimed at developing instructional leaders and enhancing student achievement in writing. It covers a broad range of topics related to writing instruction, including learning theories, conceptual models, and the latest empirical research associated with the supervision, organization, implementation, and monitoring of writing programs and instructional approaches. With its emphasis on writer identities, self-efficacy, equitable and inclusive practices, curriculum planning and implementation, assessment, instructional frameworks, and managing instructional change, this book provides educators with a comprehensive guide to improving writing instruction. It is an essential resource for educators who seek to increase the effectiveness of instructional leadership and writing instruction at the classroom, school, or district level.
In Teacher Leadership, Lieberman and Miller discuss current changes in the teacher's role, and make sense of the research on teacher leadership. They offer case studies of innovative programs - such as the National Writing Project - that provide teachers with opportunities to lead within a professional community. In addition, they tell stories of individual teachers - from Maine to California - who are able to lead in a variety of contexts. Teacher Leadership offers a new standard of teaching and community that recognizes all teachers as leaders. It shows how to develop learning communities that include rather than exclude, create knowledge rather than merely apply it, and that offer challenge and support to both new and experienced teachers. This book is a volume in the Jossey-Bass Leadership Library in Education - a series designed to meet the demand for new ideas and insights about leadership in schools.
This book offers cutting edge thinking on effective leadership processes. It pulls together the thinking of 16 educators with diverse backgrounds and experiences, all of whom hold keen interests in harnessing the forces that can improve educational opportunity for students. The book is intended to stimulate the thinking of every educator who aspires to influence decision-making and to provide direction to their school, district or institution.
